scratchme1010

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Posts by scratchme1010

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  14

  elders are leaving me alone. what to make of this?

  by nowwhat? in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am a born in that goes back to the 1960's i am in a very zealous congregation with super dub elders.

  i have been inactive for 3 years and only go to about 2 meetings a month.

  i made my displeasure known about the overlapping generation b.s.

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  scratchme1010

  Since then the elders neither harass me or encourage me. Am I just lucky?
  

  I have the feeling that you may be lucky, but for the fact that they may just not like you and prefer not to deal with you at all. I've known of elders who do that. It may just be "fine by them".

  It could also be fear. If you were the kind of JW you describe, they may not feel too confident coming to you to try to discuss things with them. You may have a lot more ammunition against them than they against you.

  Just my guesses.
  
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  5

  The pen is sharper than the sword.

  by The Rebel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  and when as a family we celebrated my first ex j.w birthday, my sons present to me was a " pen".

  that pen i am now searching for.

  i had it 2 hours ago and for the hundredth time i have lost it again, but i always find it.

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  scratchme1010

  Has anybody else ever received a special present?
  

  I have. Some people I'm close to have been very nice and kind enough to give me good presents.
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  60

  Now I'm Convinced There Probably Is No God

  by pale.emperor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  yesterday i made a visit to the museum in my city.

  the top floor is the planetarium, which has a connecting room with a huge dome ceiling where they project lessons and lectures and you have a 360 view of the night sky etc.. this particular lecture explained about our galaxy, and how it's only one of billions in the universe.

  and then we learned about each planet, some of their moons and the sun.

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  scratchme1010

  And, allegedly, Jehovah created it through his son Jesus (Michael) and gets upset if i dont underline my Watchtower? And is really bothered whether i pray to him or not? The idea is absurd to me.
  

  Yes, I completely agree with that. I still don't (never did) see the correlation between the universe and its complexity, and stupid nonsense such as having a beard, who do you choose to form a family with, being late for a meeting, wearing long skirts (that is the women), what kind of haircut is appropriate, what kind of music is OK to listen to, and the list of stupid demands goes on and on and on.

  I have posted before that if any human being behaves like the WT's Jehovah, that person will be under medication for paranoia, schizophrenia, narcissistic personality disorder, and bipolar disorder. The behavior of that so called god is just insane.

  Thanks for sharing.
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  32

  Finally, after almost 3 years, they want to visit with me

  by StarTrekAngel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so i ended up going to the meeting yesterday.

  i have been absent for almost 2 months.

  my wife was also absent as long but mostly out of chance.

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  scratchme1010

  Any experiences out there?
  

  Yes, with me they wanted to meet with me, and they wanted me to just drop everything (even during business hours) and be available to them when/as/because they said so.

  I'd suggest that even if your wife and you disagree about the WT and JW thing, it will be better for both to come up with a united front. For example, to use their own nonsense against them, when anyone, including elder's wives, come to talk to her about meeting or anything else without involving you, she can tell that she as a submissive wife has to run that by you, the head of the household.

  You on the other hand, as head of household can claim that you have to discuss this (if you want to have more impact, you can tell that you will do it under prayer) with your wife, and tell them that it's in the interest of both your spiritual well beings. If they push it, you can remind them that you are doing things as per their own guidance for how to conduct business related to your family.

  Your wife can insists that "you don't allow" her to talk to the elders alone or without you knowing, and that she as a "submissive, obedient" wife, should respect your word. Even if it's all BS, showing that you two are on the same page will have them stop doing that disrespectful thing of attempting at attacking the one they think is the weakest or easier to entice.

  Also, you can just call them on their BS and set a boundary flat out and tell them not to be disrespectful to you.
  
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  3

  The Cheerleader Effect

  by Saethydd in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the cheerleader effect is a cognitive bias that causes people to appear more attractive in a group.

  i'm no expert on psychology, but i have a theory that a similar phenomenon exists for beliefs.

  by compiling a list of beliefs you make them appear more reasonable, however, if you actually break one away from the herd and really break it down you can easily discover what an illogical mess it truly is.. i first noticed this when i debated with my father on the subject of the bible, oftentimes when i would make a valid argument against the bible he would say something along the lines of, "and that is enough to make you forget about such and such" (usually the "accuracy" of bible "prophecy" or the good effect the bible has on people's lives).

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  scratchme1010

  I first noticed this when I debated with my father on the subject of the Bible, oftentimes when I would make a valid argument against the Bible he would say something along the lines of, "and that is enough to make you forget about such and such" (usually the "accuracy" of Bible "prophecy" or the good effect the Bible has on people's lives). I think that phenomenon may be part of what is responsible for allowing religious groups like the Jehovah's Witnesses to survive so long in an era where information is so readily available.
  

  I grew up noting that in the congregation I grew up in. The four elders in that congregation, my father being one of them, couldn't stand each other. They were constantly looking for ways to "get" the other. Once one of those elders showed up in our house unannounced (and it was heavily raining) to see if he could catch us doing something wrong, so he could have something on my father (yes, it was that bizarre).

  Anyway, that relates to the point you make, Saethydd. The one and only thing that all those 4 idiots cheerled for each other was when they wanted to punish their children. All 4 of them were wife and children beaters, domestic violence people who believed in constantly punishing and never encouraging their families to anything. During the meetings, every time that the topic was about family or the youth, all the comments were made by them, one reinforcing the comment of the other. It was just disgusting.

  That's how I learned about that cheer-leading thing, in that case to make the person who was making the point look better.
  
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  11

  HULU's - The Path

  by babygirl30 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this show is a.m.a.z.i.n.g!!!!.

  ...anyone that has been in a strict religion.

  ...anyone that has been in a high control cult or movement/organization.

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  scratchme1010

  I guess I have another on in my list. Didn't know about it. Thanks.
  
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  21

  There is a NEW Songbook?!

  by My Name is of No Consequence in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am not talking about the one that the org came out with in 2010. i am talking about a new one that just came out.

  it is completely different or is it just the 135 songs from the 2010 songbook plus the 16 that they have rolled out since then?

  my head is spinning!.

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  scratchme1010

  What's the big deal? So they have new songs.
  
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  14

  How to believe you deserve to relax

  by rebel8 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was brainwashed to believe you generally shouldn't relax much.. demons can enter you if you meditate or even relax your brain too much for one second.

  always be on guard.. scriptures criticizing laziness were repeated often.

  https://www.openbible.info/topics/laziness "be kind to yourself" and all that.. you need to strenuously exert yourself for jehoopla and you're worthless if you don't.. most forms of fun were extinguished.

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  scratchme1010

  Anybody else experiencing this?
  

  Not experienced, but I remember all the nonsense about demons possessing people over closing their eyes too long and similar nonsense.
  
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  39

  Is the year 2020 the new prediction for Armageddon?

  by Disassociated Lady 2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have had a conversation this evening with a jw friend i have known since childhood.

  he is of the opinion that armageddon will have come and gone within the next 5 years.

  are the jws now pinpointing 2020 as the supposed year?

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  scratchme1010

  I have had a conversation this evening with a JW friend I have known since childhood. He is of the opinion that Armageddon will have come and gone within the next 5 years. Are the JWs now pinpointing 2020 as the supposed year? Has anyone else heard anything regarding this?
  

  No, she's making it up, probably in a lame attempt at reinforcing her poor choice of remaining a JW.
  
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  26

  Feb. 2017 "Who is Leading God's People Today?"

  by Saethydd in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i know that i am not by any means the first person to take note of this article, but today i finally got around to reading it.

  i quickly found the now infamous line "the governing body is neither inspired nor infallible.

  " in the interest of fairness, however, i decided to finish the paragraph, which led me to finish the lesson.

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  scratchme1010

  That's splitting hairs. To me it's very simple: the WT is full of --it.